Four Nations Academy
by CrayolaBox16
Summary: ZUTARA AU! Zuko was a senior in the prestigious Four Nations Academy. He was used to merely going through it in motions caring about no one but himself. Can one girl - a junior no less - really change that? Pink here!


An explanation:

Airbenders exists. Why? Because the war never happened therefore the air nomads were never wiped out.

Aang is old. Why? Because he never got trapped into the ice berg.

Anyway, welcome to the inside of my imagination. LEGGO!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Zuko, a senior in the prestigious Four Nations Academy, was not a very religious person. Though there were two things he believed about the spirits and personally, he always thought of them as true.

First being that the Spirits hated him and that they enjoy using him as the source of all their jokes. He could practically see them in the spirit world, watching him intently and laughing their pearly white asses off. (It was probably comments like that caused them to hate him.)

The second thing he believed about them was that they created two forms of pure evil to torment him all throughout his adolescent life. One of them being his psychotic father. The other was the pep rallies his school hosted. And quite frankly, he hated the latter more than the former.

He slouched father into his seat, hoping to disappear into it. He wasn't really in the mood to mingle and socialize with other people. Come to think of it, he almost never was. He silently brought out his note book and pencil, quickly losing himself to the drawing he was working on. Without him even noticing it, familiar figures sat down beside him.

"Brother." His younger sister, Azula, greeted him curtly.

"Azula." He replied, his head still buried deep into his notebook.

"Don't be rude, Zuzu." She said condescendingly. Zuko wondered when his innocent little Lala left him to be replaced by what could only be described as his father's true child. "I have company."

He finally lifted his head and faced the girl beside his sister. He sent her a tight nod and quickly went back to his work.

"You'd think for someone for someone he used to date, he'd treat you better. Am I right, Mai?"

He doesn't – or, actually, refuses – to hear Mai's reply, no doubt it was as boring as the voice saying it. It wasn't like he really _knew_ how to act around her. How do you treat the girl you ended up with such bad terms with? It's hard to act normally when every time you see her you hear your fight echoing around your head. _("YOU'RE BORING OKAY!" "OH LIKE YOU'RE ANYMORE EXCITING MISTER-I-HAVE-NO-LIFE-BEYOND-THAT-NOTEBOOK-I-DRAG-AROUND WHICH, AFTER A YEAR OF BEING TOGETHER, YOU STILL DON'T TRUST ME WITH.") _It was better to just pretend as though she, and everyone else around her, simply do not exist.

He blocked out his sister's multiple attempts to provoke him and returned to his work. He never really saw himself as an artist. It was more of a hobby, an escape from the hauntingly boring reality of real life. It was about thirty minutes before he was interrupted yet again by a loud cough.

He raised his head to find their principal, Avatar Aang, smiling pleasantly at them at the front of the amphitheater. The school quickly fell silent causing Aang's smile to grow even bigger.

Zuko blankly watched as Aang started his welcoming spiel.

He adapted a glazed over look, his eyes watching but his mind already wandering to the next project he wanted to start and finish before the end of the first week of school. It wasn't until Aang clapped his hands that he snapped back to attention.

"And, now, let's welcome Mater Pindao as he introduces our varsity teams!"

The school shouted a roaring cheer as the different teams of the school files in to the front. The Kyoshi warriors wore their usual green uniform and warrior make up, their golden fans glittering under the morning sun. The Kuai ball players unabashed walked in, the girls and the boys in their shorts and tops. The swordsman, swimmers, gliders and archers followed suit as Zuko leaned back and disjointedly listened to his sister commentary of the different groups.

"…Oh, they begged me to join but, of course I readily refused. I always saw myself higher than those ball throwers…I still fail to see why those 'warriors' are given any credit, all they do is wave that silly fan around…and don't even get me started with those disks."

"What's wrong with the disk jockeys?" Zuko asked absentmindedly as the different disk jocks filled in.

The game was similar to Kuai ball. Two teams, separated only by space, are to destroy the totem behind by the opposing team. The disks were usually bent out of the player's elements but when non-benders wanted to join the team, readymade stone disks were added for them.

"They won absolutely nothing last year." She said, eyeing them with discontent. "I don't even understand why Pindao kept that useless team."

He finally disconnected from the conversation as his sister continued to complain. He instantly felt bad for the Disk Jockey team.

Every year, Azula always wanted something taken out of the school for its improvement. Usually it was a certain employee that did not meet her standard. This year, it seemed, it was the team.

It was when people started filling out of the theater that Zuko finally snapped back into reality. He quickly collected his belongings and slung his bag to his back, quietly following his sister as she went down to go to the dining hall.

The academy was built during the early years of the first Avatar, in the hope that the children raised and taught in the school would grow up with the knowledge of diplomatic relations. This was, any wars between the nations could be prevented or, at least, talked about.

So the Avatar along with the four greatest benders, built the school right in the border between the fire nation and the earth kingdom on its own island. Slowly, masters from swordsmanship to archers to even Kuai ball were hired to teach in the school so even non-benders could enter.

The students. After escaping the Avatar's and their Master's line of sight, quickly broke out to chatter as they streamed into the hallways. Zuko falls in line beside his sister and instantly, the other students parted to make way for them.

It was not secret that Azula was the scariest, and best fire bending, student in the school, even if she was merely a junior. People respected her out of fear, something Zuko used for people to leave him alone. Not that it was any better with his sister, especially now that he and Mai were no longer together. This, he believed, was much easier though.

It was only when Ty lee, another one of his sister's faithful friends (followers?) that he was suddenly regretting his decision.

"Azula hi!" she greeted happily before biting her lip and looking rueful. "I'm sorry I'm late, I had to change out of my Kuai ball uniform."

"Don't do it again." Azula said dismissively.

"Okay." She replied before turning to the people around her. "Mai! Zuko! I didn't know you two were together again!"

"We're not." Mai answered boredly before Zuko could open his mouth.

"Oh." She said blankly before her light and easy tone returned. "I guess that explains your auras. It's all black and angry like an angler-koi."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as Ty lee fell into step beside Mai, who was on Azula's left.

"Lighten up, Zuzu. It could be wor-"

Before Azula could finish let another patronizing speech, she was violently shoved from her place. The group looked up to find a freshman air bender clumsily flying his glider above them.

"Oh, when will they learn?" Zuko heard his sister icily mutter as she pointed her finger at the boy's glider, sending it a few sparks of fire on the wing. The glider crash to the ground and almost immediately the crowd in the hallway flattened themselves to the wall, leaving only the air bender and their group in the center.

Like a predator stalking it's pray, Azula slowly approached the boy and instinctively, he cowers back.

"What's your name?" she asked her voice like sweet poison.

"Hangee." He replied, his voice barely a whisper.

"Tell me, Hangee." She drawled out while bending down to pick up the broken glider. She traced her finder over the wooden sides of the thing, her nails scratching it slightly. "Are you naturally stupid or did all that pathetic excuse for bending finally blew away all that little nut in your skull you thought was your brain?"

"Azula" Zuko warned from behind her.

She sent him a dismissive wave, her eyes still trained to the kid in front of her. "Please, brother, I am merely speaking to the freshman to deemed himself important enough to shove the princess of the fire nation and get away with it."

Hangee crawled back even father, sweat dripping down his face. "I'm so-sorry Princess Azu-zu-Azula. It will never ha-happen again."

"See that it won't" she replied. She silently twirled the glider between the floor and the hand, the other sent fire to its wings. "Because next time, I won't be this forgiving." She dropped the glider to Hangee's lap and stepped to the side, returning to her path as Zuko and the girls followed suit.

Just when Zuko was celebrating their escape, a voice breaks through his ravine.

"That wasn't very nice, Azula."

The group turned to find Katara, a water bender in his sister's year, standing in front of Hangee, her hands on her hips. Her brother Sokka, a swordsman from Zuko's year, already warning her to stop.

"Well, I didn't really ask your opinion, water bending peasant." Azula said before turning her heel and walking away. Before Zuko could even celebrate his sister's miraculous dismissal of the event, a disk made of ice flies through the air but before it could make contact, Azula quickly sent a kick of fire to melt the ice.

"Didn't your mother tell you never to attack from behind?" Azula asked, already in battle stance. Without another word, a bending battle irrupted in the hallway. Katara blocked and evaded most of Azula's attacks, though she failed to send attacks herself. Thankfully, before anyone could send serious damage, Master Pakku's voice rang though the fight.

"WHAT IN SPIRIT'S NAME IN GOING ON HERE?"

They turned to find Master Pakku, along with the other Masters and the Avatar all looking at them. He quickly pointed at Katara and Azula. "You two detention!" and turned and pointed at Zuko and Sokka, who stood behind their sisters. "And you two! You're joining them!"

"FOR WHAT?"

"FOR PREVENTING TO STOP THIS BABARIC EXUCUSE FOR BENDING!"

Zuko pinched his nose in frustration, _what have I gotten myself into?_

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